MARKETING RESEARCH

Spring 2006

Professor: Kusum L. Ailawadi Class Days: Mon, Tues

Office/Phone: Tuck 311, 62845 Class Time: 1.15 – 2.45
Assistant: Tammy Stebbins Office Hrs: Mon, Tues
Office/Phone: Chase 308, 60796 10.00 – 12.00

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course is intended to make you a well-informed user of state-of-the-art marketing research. By “user”,
I mean someone who can formulate and structure marketing problems, recommend the marketing
research that should be undertaken, appreciate what can and cannot be learned from marketing research,
gather and analyze quantitative marketing data, and make effective decisions based on those data. You
will not become a methodological expert in this course but you will be able to design and conduct some
important analyses yourself. The skills covered in this course are applicable to marketing problems
encountered in both consumer and business-to-business markets, and public and private sectors. These
skills are particularly useful if you plan to go into a consulting or marketing career.

Although the technical nature of the course will often require the use of a mini-lecture, the class sessions will
mainly be discussions. My role will be to help you explore and understand the issues for the day by asking
questions that you may not have asked yourself, and trying to answer those that you have raised but not been
able to answer. Some of your notes from "Statistics for Managers" will come in handy, especially those on
hypothesis testing and regression. So, dig them out!

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
The course utilizes four tools: a textbook, selected cases and readings, homework assignments and, most
importantly, two "hands-on" projects. You will need to use SPSS for Windows, Excel, and Sawtooth conjoint
analysis software. The course requirements are described below in some detail.

1. Squid Project:
The research problem is to determine whether there is strong potential for a mass-marketed domestic
seafood product made from squid. The project entails the analysis of data from a professionally
administered survey as well as collection of secondary information. This is a major project designed
to enhance your analysis skills. It requires you to conduct a detailed market analysis using
sophisticated techniques, synthesize the findings from that analysis and couple them with creative
thought to make a marketing decision. You will work in pairs on this project. It will culminate in a
double-spaced, typed report of at most six pages (excluding charts and other appendices), due in the
fifth week of the course, at the beginning of class on Monday, April 24th. There will be a grade
penalty for exceeding the page limit.

Marketing Research 1
2. Squid Homework Assignments:
Three short homework assignments will be due on the 3rd, 11th, and 17th of April, respectively. These
assignments relate to the squid project, and will involve interpreting cross-tabulations, factor analysis,
regression, and discriminant analysis. You can hand these assignments in jointly with your partner on
the squid project. The purpose of these homework assignments is to ensure that any confusion you
might have in interpreting these analyses is cleared up before you use them in your final squid project
report.

3. Conjoint Project:
Working in teams of four students, you will develop and pretest a conjoint analysis survey on a topic
of your own choosing. This will require the use of Sawtooth software and either EXCEL or SPSS.
The final conjoint report will be due at or before 4.00 pm on Friday, May 26th. Further details on the
conjoint project are provided in the course packet.

4. Readings:
I have assigned readings from the text and some other sources for each class meeting. They provide
necessary background for class discussion and the completion of assignments. Descriptions of some
advanced analytical methods may be difficult to grasp fully at the first reading. Please skim those
sections before class to acquaint yourself with the topic and then go back and work through the details
after we discuss them in class.

5. Cases:
We will discuss four cases that illustrate some of the Marketing Research concepts and techniques
covered in the course. I expect you to come to class fully prepared with a comprehensive analysis of
each case and your recommendations. Discussion questions for each case are included in the course
packet.

6. Class Participation:
The learning experience in any course depends, in large part, upon the quality of class discussion.
Please read and give some thought to each day's assigned material and come to class with your notes
properly organized, ready to participate in the discussion. Clearly, I do not expect you to always have
the right answers when we are discussing a new analytical technique. Evidence that you have done
the reading and absorbed it to the best of your ability is all I ask for. Remember that thoughtful
questions leading to a rich class discussion are often as valuable as thoughtful answers.

My expectations are different for the discussion of cases. You should be able to lead the case
discussion with carefully thought through answers to the assigned discussion questions. These
answers should be backed up by quantitative analysis where applicable. Please note that participation
in case discussions will be weighted more heavily than other class sessions in determining your class
participation grade.

Marketing Research 2
GRADING SCHEME:
Class Participation 20% Squid Project 35%
Homework 10% Conjoint Project 35%

HONOR CODE:
In general, group discussion is encouraged for class preparation and assignments, but, ultimately, any work to
which you put your name must reflect your understanding of the material. The squid project has specific
honor code instructions that are provided separately.

ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Much of the learning in this course will occur in class as we understand how to use some important marketing
research techniques and as you share your analyses and questions with each other. Therefore, attendance at
all class sessions is expected, and you cannot “make up” for class participation with written work. Except in
an unforeseen emergency, I expect to be informed beforehand if you need to miss a class. Please note that
missing more than two class sessions for unexcused reasons (i.e., reasons other than family emergency,
illness, or religious observance) will entail a grade penalty over and above the direct impact on class
participation.

REQUIRED MATERIAL:

1. Text:
Title: Marketing Research: Methodological Foundations
Authors: Gilbert A. Churchill and Dawn Iacobucci
Edition: Ninth edition, 2005
Publisher: Thomson South-Western Publishers.

2. Cases, Readings and Assignments:

Included in course packet or will be distributed in class.

SOME ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

I. General Textbooks

Aaker, David, V. Kumar and George Day (1995), Marketing Research, 8h edition, John Wiley &
Sons.

Dillon, William R., Madden, Thomas J., and Firtle, Neil H. (1993), Essentials of Marketing Research,
1st edition, Richard D. Irwin, Inc.

Malhotra, Naresh, (2004), Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 4th edition,

Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Marketing Research 3
II. Research Design

Assael, Henry, and John Keon (1982), "Non-Sampling vs. Sampling Errors in Survey Research",
Journal of Marketing, 46, 114-123.

Greenbaum, Thomas L. (1998), The Handbook for Focus Group Research, Sage Publications.

Kerlinger, Fred N. (1986), Foundations of Behavioral Research, 3rd edition, Holt, Rinehart &
Winston.

Stewart, David, and Michael A. Kamins (1993), Secondary Research: Information, Sources and
Methods, Applied Social Research Methods, Volume 4, Sage Publications.

Sudman, S., and Bradburn, N. (1982), Asking Questions, Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Sudman, Seymour (1976), Applied Sampling, Academic Press.

III. Measurement

Bearden, William O., Richard Netemeyer, and Mary F. Mobley (1993), Handbook of Marketing
Scales: Multi-Item Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research, Sage Publications.

Bohrnstedt, G.W. (1970), "Reliability and Validity Assessment in Attitude Measurement", Chapter 3
in Attitude Measurement, ed. G.F. Summers, Rand McNally.

Campbell, D.T., and Fiske, D.W. (1959), "Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-
Multimethod Matrix", Psychological Bulletin, 56, pp. 81-105.

Thurstone, L.L. (1927), "The Law of Comparative Judgement", Psychological Review, Vol. 34, pp.
273-286.

Torgerson, W.S. (1958), Theory and Method of Scaling, Wiley & Sons

IV. Analysis

Hair, Joeseph, Rolph Anderson, Ronald Tatham, and William Black (1995), Multivariate Data
Analysis, 4th edition, Prentice-Hall Publishers.

Dillon, W.R, and M. Goldstein (1984), Multivariate Analysis: Methods and Applications, Wiley &
Sons.

Elrod, Terry, Louviere, J.J., and Davey, K.K. (1992), "An Empirical Comparison of Ratings-Based
and Choice-Based Conjoint Models", Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. XXIX, pp.368-377.

Marketing Research 4
Johnston, J. (1984), Econometric Methods, McGraw Hill Book Co.

Morrison, D.G. (1969) "On the Interpretation of Discriminant Analysis", Journal of Marketing
Research, pp. 156-163.

Stewart, David W. (1981), "The Application and Misapplication of Factor Analysis in Marketing
Research", Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. XVIII, pp. 51-62.

Tabachnik, Barbara G., and Fidell, L.S. (1983), Using Multivariate Statistics, Harper & Row.

Marketing Research 5
 MARKETING RESEARCH: COURSE OUTLINE
No. Date Topic(s) Readings and Assignments
1 March 27 The Research Process Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (pp. 74-78), Chapter 10 (pp. 267-269), Chapter 15
Measurement Scales (pp. 457-460),
Scan Squid #0 through #4.
2 March 28 Questionnaire Design Chapters 8, 9, 10
Review Squid #1 (Questionnaire).
3 April 3 Basic Data Analysis Chapter 14; Review Squid #5, #11, #12, #13
Crosstabs HW 1 (Squid #6) due at beginning of class
Squid project partner preferences due to
Tammy.Stebbins@Dartmouth.edu by 4.00 pm.
4 April 4 Finding Commonalities Among Variables Chapter 18 (pp. 568-585)
Factor Analysis Review Squid #14.
5 April 10 Factor Analysis (contd.) Squid #14 (continued)
Using Factor Scores Zinkhan, G. “Rating Industrial Advertisements”; Lieberman, M. “Key
Driver Analysis”
6 April 11 Predicting Group Membership Chapter 18 (pp. 554-568) ; Review Squid #5 & #15
Discriminant Analysis HW #2 (Squid #8) due at beginning of class.
7 April 17 Catch-up Session Review Squid #10, #16
Squid Review HW #3 (Squid #9) due at beginning of class.
8 April 18 Sampling Issues Chapter 11, Chapter 13
Case: MassNORML (A)
9 April 24 Introduction to Conjoint Analysis Appendix of Chapter 17
Green et al. “Evaluating New Products; Curry, J. “After the Basics”
Squid final paper due at beginning of class.
10 April 25 Variations in Conjoint Analysis Note on conjoint analysis; Sawtooth Software demo.

Marketing Research 6
 MARKETING RESEARCH: COURSE OUTLINE
Conjoint project group preferences due to Tammy Stebbins in Chase 308 on Wednesday, April 26th by 4.00 pm.
11 May 1 Market Simulation with Conjoint Analysis Case: Colgate Wave Pricing Study
12 May 2 Cluster Analysis Chapter 18 (pp. 585-603)
Conjoint project proposals due to Tammy Stebbins in Chase 308 on Wednesday, May 3rd, by 4.00 pm.
13 May 8 Guest Speaker: Don LeBlanc, T’95, Senior Vice
President, Staples.
14 May 9 Research Design Summary Chapter 5 and review of questionnaire design and sampling readings
Case: Cellular Radiotelephone
Conjoint surveys due for upload to William.C.Martin@Dartmouth.edu on Thursday, May 11th, by 4.00 pm.
15 May 15 Qualitative Research Chapter 4
Guest Speaker: Elyse Kane Zaltman, G. “Metaphorically Speaking”; Sweet, C. “Anatomy of an
Director of Consumer Insights, Colgate On-Line Focus Group”; Langer, J. & N. Brody “Mix or Match”
Palmolive Collage exercise due in class.
Start conjoint project data collection.
16 May 16 Issues in Causal Research Chapter 6
Issues in Online Research Bachmann et al. “E-mail and Snail Mail Face Off in Rematch”; Tuten,
et al. “Banner-Advertised Web Surveys”.
17 May 22 Pretest Market Models Note on Pretest Market Models
Case: Nestle Contadina Pizza and Pasta
18 May 23 Course Review Ensure that all conjoint project questions and problems are cleared
up by this day.
Conjoint final paper due to Tammy Stebbins in Chase 308 on Friday, May 26th, by 4.00 pm.

Marketing Research 7